Odeon losses mount under Chinese owner

Odeon, one of Britain’s biggest cinema chains, slumped to a £93.2m loss last year after it was offloaded to Chinese investment giant Dalian Wanda.

The operator, the second-biggest in the country by total revenue, saw losses widen from £40.1m in 2015, according to accounts released by its holding company last week.

It comes after buyout tycoon Guy Hands sold the chain to Wanda, the Chinese company behind US chain AMC, last July. The deal valued Odeon at £921m, including £407m of debt. As part of the deal, Hands’s Terra Firma wrote off £63.4m of loan notes.

It comes as Odeon’s rival, Vue Entertainment, also prepares for a sale.

Last week Vue hired former ITV chief executive Adam Crozier to lead a London listing. The float…